In-home personal exercise and weight loss equipment are increasingly popular consumer products. Due to the expense of health club memberships and the time required to travel to health clubs, many people desire to exercise at home. However, many exercise machines are very expensive and require a dedicated area or room for use and/or storage. For these reasons many people do not wish to own a large exercise machine that can exercise several different muscles.
Alternatives to large home fitness machines include fitness balls such as medicine balls and inflatable exercise balls. Medicine balls are typically leather, vinyl or fabric bladders filled with a dense material such as sand, and surrounded by impact absorbing materials. A typical medicine ball is approximately 12-16 inches in diameter and generally weighs anywhere from 5 to 30 pounds. Medicine balls are frequently used as part of weight training, injury rehabilitation, and plyometric exercises, and are particularly well-suited for strengthening core muscles such as abdominals.
Another type of fitness ball is an inflatable exercise ball, which is typically used for stretching and core-strengthening exercises. Inflatable exercise balls are typically much larger and lighter than medicine balls. For example, a typical inflatable exercise ball may be about 16 to 36 inches in diameter and weigh only 2 to 5 pounds. Inflatable exercise balls are generally made from an elastic polymer such as polyvinyl chloride and filled with air until taut. Thus, inflatable exercise balls can be bounced on the ground.
However, both medicine balls and inflatable exercise balls have significant drawbacks. One drawback of medicine balls is that many people are intimidated to use them due to their size and weight, which are typically not adjustable. Further, many women may not be inclined to use medicine balls due to a perception that they are primarily used for men's exercises. Another drawback of medicine balls is that many of the exercises become monotonous and repetitive so that the user eventually loses interest in continuing to perform the same exercise. Finally, another problem with medicine balls is that the internal weight is directly connected to the outer bladder so that when a user catches a thrown medicine ball, the impact on the user's body is severe and immediate.
Similarly, inflatable exercise balls are not adjustable in weight and are therefore limited in being useful for strenuousness exercises. Further, inflatable exercise balls also may suffer from a gender bias, namely that many men are not inclined to use inflatable exercise balls due to a perception that they are primarily used for women's exercises.
Accordingly, there is a need for an exercise device that combines the benefits of both medicine balls and inflatable exercise balls in a single device, and that includes new features that eliminate the foregoing drawbacks of medicine balls and inflatable exercise balls. Such an improved exercise device would ideally be adjustable in weight and capable of being used in a wide variety of new and interesting exercises. Finally, such an improved exercise device would ideally be low-impact in nature. The embodiments of an inertial exercise device disclosed below satisfy these needs.